Device for picking fruit



April 5, 1960 uys EIAL 2,931,160

DEVICE FOR PICKING FRUIT Filed Dec. 16, 1957 )8 L'Eomnn A. Buys v ,fimur R, Buys INVENTORS He. 4

6 m w M ilnited rates DEVICE FDR PICKING FRUIT Leonard A. Buys and Phillip R. Buys, North Muskegon, Mich.

Application December 16, 1957, Serial No. 702,874

2 Claims. (Cl. 56-328) This invention relates to a fruit picking device generally, and more particularly to a portable berry picking cup device or receptacle.

Berry picking requires a certain dexterity and agility in the fingers of the hands. It is important that berries be worried from the berry bush. This requires a light touching of a group or bunch of berries to cause those which are ripe to fall from the bunch without disturbing those which are not ready for picking. The berries that fall from the bunch must be captured in the berry pickers hand. Otherwise they will fall to the ground, he bruised, damaged and lost. Since a persons hand holds only a limited number of berries, it is apparent that some berries are often dropped because the pickers hand is already full and cannot receive any more berries. Berries which are already in the pickers hands may also be damaged when they are squeezed in the effort to receive more berries in the pickers hand.

Because of the limited capacity of the human hand, particularly since the fingers are required to pick berries, one is required to continuously move his hand into the berry bush, remove the hand when full, and re-enter the bush for more berries. This is a tiresome procedure for one employed in picking the berries and also causes numerous berries to be shaken free of the bush, and others to be lost from the pickers hand. Such berries fall to the ground where they are bruised, broken and otherwise lost.

It should be remembered that many small fruits are easily bruised and damaged in falling only what is normally considered a short distance.

It is here proposed to provide a device for use by persons employed in picking berries and which includes a berry receiving cup or receptacle hung or supported from the hand of such person. The cup is thin and narrow for easy access into a bush and withdrawal therefrom. A wrist cutout is provided at one end of the cupand is adapted to receive the wrist part of the pickers hand next to the open palm. A partial glove, strap or other means is attached to the cup and is adapted to hold the open palm within the cup or receptacle access opening with the fingers extended across the cup. A protruding lip is provided on the cup under the open extended fingers and in a position to receive berries which are worried from the berry bush by such fingers.

The depth of the berry receiving cup should be sufficient to hold a reasonable number of berries so that the pickers hand is not required to be withdrawn from the bush until all of the berries within the reach of his hand have been picked. The cup may be emptied each time before the hand is reinserted into the berry bush.

The proposed berry picking device may be molded from pliable plastic. The cup is therefore inexpensive to manufacture and cannot be easily damaged or broken. The means for securing the cup to the pickers hand may be a glove having parts cut away or may be a special mesh type partial glove, strap device or other means.

Where desirable, means may be provided for engaging the little finger of the pickers hand to the berry receiving cup or receptacle. This enables the hand to be held on one side of the cup and assures a wider access for berries falling into'the cup device. Such a little finger engaging means may be formed from the cup itself or may be separately secured thereto.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 shows one form of the proposed cup device and is a front side elevation View with the cup portion shown in cross section.

Fig. 2 is a back side elevation view of the cup device shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a side elevational view of a cup modification.

Fig. 4 is a top plan view of the berry picking cup device shown in Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 isa back end elevation view of the berry picking cup device shown in Fig. 3.

Referring more specifically to the drawings, in Figs. 1 and 2 is shown a berry picking device 10 which in cludes a berry receiving cup or receptacle member 12 having a partial glove member 14 secured thereto. A persons hand 16 is adapted to be received within the glove member and the glove is adapted to hold the cup in a certain given relation to such hand.

The cup member is preferably formed from light and pliable plastic. This enables the cup to be made inexpensively and to be such as will not be easily damaged or broken. However, the cup may be made from any of a number of different materials. 7

An opening 18 is provided in the upper end of the cup member 12. The cup member is preferably formed to be a little larger than the width of the edge of a hand. Accordingly the opening is longer than it is wide. This is best seen in Fig. 4 although this particular cup is a modification which will be later described. The depth of the cup member is optional though it should be sufficient to provide a reasonable size chamber 20 to hold a reasonable number of berries. This is so that a person using the cup will not have to withdraw his hand from a berry bush too frequently.

A wrist cutout 22 is formed at one end of the cup member 12. A protruding lip portion 24 is provided at the other end of the cup member. The lip portion 24 includes a sloped bottom wall 26 which leads to the berry receiving chamber 20 of the cup member.

The partial glove member 14 includes the wrist engaging portion 28, the part of the glove 30 covering the back of the hand, and the thumb engaging web 32. The wrist portion 28 of the glove is secured to the back end wall 34 of the cup member 12 and the back 30 of the glove is secured to the back side wall 36 thereof as by rivets or other fastening means 38.

The hand 16, as received in the partial glove 14, has the wrist portion thereof held within the wrist cutout 22 by the wrist engaging part '28 of the glove. The part 30 of the glove and the thumb engaging web 32 hold the cup to the hand so that the hand is disposed across and partially within the opening 18 of the cup member 12. The open extended fingers of the hand are disposed over the protruding lip portion 24. The hand is held generally towards the back side wall 34 of the berry container by the part 30 of the glove which extends across the back of the hand.

A berry picker using the proposed berry picking device 10 may readily insert his hand and the narrow cup member within a berry bush, the fingers of his hand are free for use in picking berries and the berries may be readily dropped or caused to fall from the bush directly into the protruding lip portion 24 of the cup, under the fingers, from which they will fall into the berry receiving chamber 20 of the cup member.

A person having the proposed device on his hand may 3 empty the cup device after his hand is. withdrawn from the berry bush and before re-entry within the same bush or diiferent one.

Figs. 3, 4 an d 5 show another form of berry picking cup 39, quite similar to the first cup member shown, but including a modification of the means for securing the berry picking device to a persons hand. Such means include a wrist receiving and engaging strap 48. The strap is received through an eyelet 42 formed from the back end wall 44 of the cup member under the wrist cutout portion 46 provided thereon. The strap 44 may be flexible or include a buckle 48 'as shown. Another strap 5% is secured to the back side wall 52 of the con tainer or cup member and is adapted to extend over the back of the hand, between the thumb and forefinger, and across the palm of the hand to where it is joined to the Wrist engaging strap 40. 7

Another innovation shown in the modified cup member 39, which may be used with either cup mernber shown or suggested hereby, includes having a finger tab 54 formed from the cup member near the protruding lip portionSfi thereof. The finger tab 54 stands up from the back side wall 52 of the container and is bent over and adapted to be engaged with the little finger of the hand with which the berry picking cup device is used. The finger tab'54 thus affords an additional means of holding a persons hand towards the back side wall oi the berry receiving receptacle.

While a preferred embodiment of this invention and a modification thereof has been described, it will be understood that other modifications and improvements may be made thereto. Such of these modifications and improvements as incorporate the principles of this invention are to be considered as included in the hereinafter appended claims unless these claims by their language expressly state otherwise.

We claim:

1. A berry picker device, comprising: a narrow cup member having an opening in the top end thereof; means on said cup member adapted to position said cup member wholly under a users hand, said opening exposed below the users hand, said means including a wrist re: ceiving member connected to said cup at one side of said opening and a finger receiving strap member having one end connected to said wrist receiving member adjacent the top of said cup at one side of said cup member; the other end connected to the central portion of said cup member on the opposite side of said cup from the first end connection, a protruding lip portion provided on said cup member at the side of said opening opposite from the side to which said wrist receiving member is secured; and said wrist receiving member extending generally perpendicularly from said opening whereby said cup member is held generally parallel with the wrist, said finger receiving member adapted to receive the users fingers without embracing the users thumb.

2. A berry picker device, comprising: a narrow cup member having an opening in the top end thereof; means on said cup member adapted to position said cup member wholly under a user s hand, said opening exposed below the users hand, said means including a wrist receiving member connected to said cup at one side of said opening and a finger receiving strap member having one end connected to said wrist receiving member adjacent the top of said cup at one side of said cup member; the other end connected to the central portion of said cup member on the opposite side or" said cup from the first end connection; means provided on the side of said cup to which said one end of said strap member is connected for engaging at least one of the users fingers, said means attached to said cup member at a point remote from said wrist engaging member; and said wrist receiving member extending generally perpendicularly from said opening whereby said cup member is held generally parallel with the wrist, said finger receiving member adapted to receive the users fingers without embracing the users thumb.

References (Iited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 852,082 Smith Apr. 30, 1907 907,012 Day Dec. 15, 1908 1,505,487 Park Aug. 19, 1924 1,978,877 Arnold Oct. 30, 1934 2,764,328 Popp Sept. 25, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 677,810 France Dec. 19, 1929 335,419 Great Britain Sept. 25, 1930 

